Hardly 24 hours after Kenya was awarded the 2020 World under 20 Athletics Championships, the Kenyan government allocated Ksh1.5 Billion to jumpstart preparations of the event.
Sports and Heritage Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa said there’s not time to waste and that’s they are moving with speed and precision to ensure Kenya stages a world class event in Nairobi.
Addressing the press in his office in Nairobi, Echesa said the Steering Committee will be constituted next month to start preparations which will pave way for the formation of the Local Organising Committee.
The IAAF World U20 Championships Nairobi 2020 have been scheduled for July 7-12, 2020, after Nairobi’s candidacy was formally endorsed by the IAAF Council in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Thursday, July 26th 2018.
Last year, Kenya hosted the final edition of the IAAF World Under-18 Championships at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasaran in Nairobi. The event drew huge crowds with IAAF commending the country for the well-attended competition.
Echesa said the success of the 2020 World under 20 Athletics Championships will give Kenya the much needed impetus and confidence of bidding for the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
“We started with the World under 18 now the under 20 event from there we shall be ripe to host the senior’s championships. We have shown that we are capable to host smaller events, and it has now reached a time when we should host big competitions,” said Echesa.
The Cabinet Secretary said Kenya became the first African nation to win the world championship in Beijing in 2015, adding that it is only fitting that Kenya should be the first country to bring the World championships to Africa.
The Qatari capital of Doha is set to host the 2019 IAAF World Championships before Eugene, Oregon, in USA stages the 2021 edition as Budapest, Hungary plays host in 2023.
The world governing athletics body IAAF is pushing to have Africa stage the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
Last year, Hamad Malboum Kalkaba, President of the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), claimed in a statement, released following a meeting with IAAF President Sebastian Coe in Rabat, he believed that Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa all had the potential to stage the IAAF World Championships in 2025.
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